Vision

Access VoiceOver or Zoom during setup

From the moment you take Apple Watch out of the box, you can immediately use VoiceOver or Zoom.

VoiceOver: After turning on Apple Watch, triple-click the Digital Crown.

Zoom: Double-tap with two fingers to enable Zoom.

VoiceOver

VoiceOver is a built-in screen reader that lets you know what’s happening on your Apple Watch — and helps you navigate it — even if you can’t see it. VoiceOver uses simple gestures much like those found in iOS. All native apps are built to be VoiceOver compatible, including Mail, Calendar, Phone, Maps, and Messages. VoiceOver is available in all 26 supported languages including English (Australia, Indian, UK, US), Chinese (Simplified, Traditional, Traditional Hong Kong), Finnish, French (Canada, France), German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian (Bokmål), Spanish (Mexico, Spain), Danish, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish.

Zoom

Zoom is a built-in magnifier that works wherever you are in Apple Watch. You can use the Digital Crown to move across the screen by rows or use two fingers to move around the screen. With magnification adjustable up to 15 times the native size, Zoom provides solutions for a range of vision challenges.

Extra Large watch face

Apple Watch comes with an option for an Extra Large watch face with numbers that take up the entire screen, making it easier to view the time.

Font Adjustments

When you activate Larger Dynamic Type, the text inside a range of apps in Apple Watch, including Mail, Messages, and Settings, is converted to a larger, easier‑to‑read size. And you can choose bold text to make the text heavier across built‑in applications.

Grayscale

To assist users for whom color might impair visibility, Apple Watch lets you enable grayscale onscreen. After you set the filter, the settings apply system-wide.

Reduce Motion

You can reduce screen motion in Apple Watch. When you turn on Reduce Motion, some screen elements — such as the movement of icons on the Home screen — will be simpler and more directly associated with your navigation gestures.

Reduce Transparency

You can increase contrast on the screen by reducing the transparency of the background behind elements such as alerts, Siri, and Glances.

On/Off Labels

To make it easier to see whether a setting is on or off, you can have Apple Watch show an additional label on the on/off switches.

Hearing

Learn more about Mono Audio and the Taptic Engine below.

Mono Audio

When you’re using Bluetooth headphones, you might miss some audio if you’re deaf or hard of hearing in one ear. That’s because stereo recordings usually have distinct left- and right-channel audio tracks. Apple Watch can help by playing both audio channels in both ears, and it lets you adjust the balance for greater volume in either ear.

Taptic Engine and Prominent Haptic

The unique Taptic Engine provides a gentle tap on the wrist every time a notification comes in.

If you turn on Prominent Haptic, your Apple Watch will also play a prominent haptic to pre-announce some common alerts. To turn it on, tap Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Prominent Haptic on your Apple Watch.